None of them had much credibility and weren't part of the "crews" that were rapping and dancing at the block parties. Her son, Joey Robinson, just 18 at the time, was the vice-president of promotion for the label and found the rappers for the group: Wonder Mike (Michael Wright), Big Bank Hank (Henry Jackson) and Master Gee (Guy O'Brien), all from Englewood, New Jersey. The group was put together by Sylvia Robinson, owner of the New Jersey label Sugarhill Records, to take advantage of the rap music that was gaining popularity at New York City block parties. Originally, the three Sugarhill Gang rappers and their label boss Sylvia Robinson were listed as the song's writers, but now the only composers listed are Rodgers and Edwards, who receive all the songwriting royalties it brings in (Edwards' share goes to his estate, as he died in 1996). After he threatened a lawsuit, the credits on the song were changed. Rodgers heard "Rapper's Delight" for the first time when he was out at a club and the DJ played it. "Good Times" was written by Chic's guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers and bass player Bernard Edwards. The only way to do it would be splicing tape together, and that could get choppy.īut Sugarhill Gang didn't just use the "Good Times" beat the string stabs were also lifted (these were samples, played from the record), so the entire "Delight" track was made up of pieces from the Chic song. "Rapper's Delight" used real musicians to re-create the "Good Times" rhythm because the technology didn't exist to make it into a sample loop. The Sugarhill Gang wasn't the first to borrow it - Queen used the bassline in their song " Another One Bites The Dust." The "Good Times" groove was easy to loop on turntables, creating a breakbeat that was perfect for MCs. The beat that plays throughout was taken from " Good Times" by Chic, a song that was in the crates of every DJ who played at the block parties where rap got its start. The Fatback Band used an original beat on their song "Kim Tim III," making "Rapper's Delight" the first rap song to use a sample or interpolation, which of course was done without permission because no precedent existed for clearing them. The winning formula was boastful lyrics over a sampled beat - a technique that became ubiquitous in rap. These chart positions may look modest, but getting a rap song national attention was quite an accomplishment, making "Rapper's Delight" a seminal song in hip-hop history. The song reached the Hot 100 (at #84) on the chart dated November 10, and cracked the Top 40 (at #37) on January 5, peaking at #36 a week later. "Rapper's Delight," released on September 16, 1979, was a serious push to get a rap record into the mainstream, and it worked. The first rap song commercially released was " Kim Tim III (Personality Jock)" by the Fatback Band, which came out in the summer of 1979, but was relegated to the B-side of a more traditional R&B tune. Outside of the Bronx, rap was generally considered a fad, and record companies had no interest in financing it. Rap music had been around for about seven years, but it was usually heard at block parties and discos where DJs would loop breakbeats and MCs would add live vocals. This was the first rap song to enter the US Hot 100.
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